The following link is to a guide that covers the setup necessary to get a google mail account (gmail) working via IMAP in Windows Mail on Vista: Setting up Gmail IMAP Support for Windows Vista Mail
Important point from guide: Once mail account has been created and you have the congratulations page, do NOT select option to download email folders - you first need to edit the advanced setting to change the IMAP and SMTP ports, and downloading the email folders first will render the account useless (even if you then later change the ports). If you do accidentally attempt to download the email folders, you'll have to delete the account and start again!
Also read Recommended IMAP client settings from Google.
Additional notes:
- Tools -> Accounts. Select your mail account and click Properties -> IMAP tab.
- Set "Root folder path" to [Google Mail]
- Tick " Store special folders on IMAP server"...
Sent Items path: Sent Mail
Drafts path: Drafts
Deleted Items path: Bin
Junk path: Spam
- Tools -> Options -> Send tab. Untick "Save copy of sent messages in the 'Sent Items' folder".
- Finally, hide the All Mail and Starred folders.
